Div. I Boys' Basketball: South wins in OT; huge night for BG's Lunn

Dave Dunham scored 24 points, including nine of his team's 11 overtime points, to push host Nashua South to a 59-55 win in a Division I first-round game on Tuesday night.

Nashua trailed 39-31 entering the fourth period, but Dunham connected on two of his four 3-point shots and finished the second half with 17 points. Tim Preston had 11 points in the win. Salem was led by a 13-point effort from Andrew Ruffen, who had three 3-point shots.

Bishop Guertin 66, Alvirne 57: In Nashua, Jeff Lunn scored 25 points and had 25 rebounds for the Cardinals. C.J. Boykin fouled out of the game in the third period, but Steve Toscano with 13 points picked up the slack. John Noon had a big three-point shot in the fourth quarter followed by a conventional three-point play from Toscano that separated BG from the No. 10 Broncos, who finished 10-9. Tyler Livingston led Alvirne with 29 points.

No. 7 Bishop Guertin, 14-5, visits Central on Friday night.

Exeter 52, Merrimack 44: Exeter started its season 0-4 and were just 2-7 at the halfway mark. The Blue Hawks even had four overtime losses along the way.

"After the Queen City Christmas Tournament, we started to turn our season around and now we're playing some of our best basketball of the season," said Exeter coach Jeff Holmes after the 11th-ranked Blue Hawks defeated sixth-ranked Merrimack.

Exeter held a four-to-eight point lead for most of the game. Merrimack made a run to close the gap to 41-40 with 2:50 left, but Exeter pulled away behind free throws from Tyler Russ who finished with 14 points. Zack Holler netted 12 in the win for the 10-9 Blue Hawks. Eric Gendron led Merrimack, 13-6, with 16 points.

Spaulding 72, Keene 52:In Rochester, Spaulding connected on 10 of 17 first quarter shots including five three-point baskets for a 25-10 lead. Spaulding finished the game with 12 three-point baskets. Nick MacGregor led the winners with 18 points.

Spaulding, 16-3 and ranked third, will host Exeter on Friday.

Bedford 60, Winnacunnet 42: In Bedford, Five players led by Sam Thomas and Taylor Grande, with 12 points apiece, finished in double digit scoring. James Caparell (11), Jake Capistran (11) and Cam Meservey (10) led the balance attack for the Bulldogs, 13-6, who face Trinity on Friday.